The White House last week said the rising number of non-working people in the country reflects an inevitable trend caused by an aging population, an attempt to rebut Republican arguments that the real problems are federal regulations and an oversized government.
The report from President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers also said little can be done to reverse the trend outside of allowing more immigrants to enter the country, which would help create a younger workforce.
Republicans have argued for years now that the private sector has limped along because of government interference through regulation, and an exploding national debt that companies see as a justification for potential tax hikes down the road. The GOP says these government threats are borne out in data that shows Obama has presided over an economy that failed to create jobs at rates seen in past recovery periods.
Republicans have passed dozens of bills aimed at slowing regulation and cutting spending, most of which have been ignored by the Democratic Senate.
But the White House report said the administration is not to blame for the falling labor force participation rate, which dropped from 65.9 percent in 2007 to just 62.8 percent in 2014. That’s a level that hasn’t been seen since the 1970s.
While the report admitted that the Great Recession played a role, it said most of that drop would have happened anyway.